A Story of Sand
by Zazista
Summary: Mark lives a life of isolation. His hometown is in the middle of the desert to protect them from the evil pokemon that lurk outside. However, when Mark realizes that not everything is what it seem to be, he runs away from his home to discover the truth about the nature of pokemon and the death of his brother.


My name is Mark. I live in the desert town of Sansire with my mom and my dad. I used to have a brother but he died trying to escape from home. But that's beside the point. I live in a world of chaos, where nothing makes since and I'm desperately trying to find out what's happening. That that all started the day I ran away. Here is my story

I awoke on a very special day, October 27th. Today was my 17th birthday and my parents were especially excited to throw me a birthday party. I smiled as I stood up, thinking about the gifts that I was going to get and what cake I would receive. My parent always threw me the best birthday parties, so I was excited. I put on my favorite black tee shirt and jeans and looked at myself in the mirror. I had short brown hair and blue eyes, same as my dad, and was tall and lean in figure. I was about 6'2 and had a pretty strong build for my age. I admired myself for a little longer and then proceeded to go down the stairs to have breakfast. I walked into the kitchen to see my dad and my mom both sitting and eating some eggs.

"Hey champ, you know what today is?" said my dad. He asked me this question every year and I always knew the answer.

"Yup, it's my birthday" I responded. He chuckled to himself muttering "right on" and went back to reading the paper. My mom turned to me with a skillet of hot eggs and said "I made you some eggs honey, happy birthday."

"Thanks mom" I replied, "When should I come back?"

"About four o'clock" she said. My mom always wanted me out of the house on my birthday so that she could prepare for the party. One year, I came in before she was done and she literally exploded in anger. I'll never make that mistake again.

"Got it, I'll be back by then" I said, scarfing down eggs at the same time. I finished eating and put my plate on the counter. "See ya."

I left my house and walked outside. It was a nice day, the sky was clear and the sun was out. I walked around the town to my friend Sam's house. The town of Sansire was made of sandstone completely. It is one of the only resources that the town actually had. The town itself is located in the middle of a giant desert. Outside are the wastelands, an area where wild Pokémon ravage and destroy everything in their path. We are lucky to have a town so safe from them. The city is separated from the desert by two feet thick stone walls; no Pokémon, no matter how powerful, could break those. However, isolation also is a bad thing. We have a lack of water, making it hard to grow crops and have beverages to drink. We have to have food shipped to us to make sure that we can make it through the harsh droughts that come periodically. At the beginning of every month, a helicopter comes in and drops off food from another town in the distance. The mayor then distributes these to the people and we are able to continue living peacefully away from the Pokémon.

The mayor himself is a great guy with a bit of mystery behind him. He is so nice to all the kids and visits them at school at least once a month. He teaches them about the dangers of Pokémon and what can come from them. The mayor doesn't ever use his name and insists on being called "Mr. Mayor." The mayor has a deep hatred for Pokémon that no one knows reason for. I mean, Pokémon are dangerous, but I don't have a deep hatred for them. I forget the thought when I reach Sam's house.

I arrived at Sam's home and knocked on the door. There was no response after a few seconds, so I knocked a few more times and a bit louder. Still no response.

"Sam?" I yelled, hoping to get some sort of reply, "Are you in there?" No response.

I turned the doorknob to find that it was unlocked. I then pushed the door open and walked inside the home. The room was totally dark and the house was empty. The furniture was there but besides that the house was stripped bare. Confused, I looked around. It didn't take me long to figure out that Sam had left, and in a hurry too. All of his belongings were gone and there was no sign of him ever even being here. I opened the door to his room to look around for more clues there. However, I didn't quite understand what I saw. All of Sam's stuff was gone except a small, circular ball that lay on his dresser. I went over and picked it up to examine it. It was divided in half with the top half being red and the bottom half being white. There was a circle in the middle, separating the red and the white. I was amazed with it. It was smooth, but seemed small enough to fit in my pocket. Without a second though I slipped it into my pocked and left the house.

I had no idea what was going on, but in my gut I had a feeling that I did. Sam had run away. It wasn't uncommon either. My brother did the same thing when he was my age two years ago. Without a warning he left and went into the desert to run away from our town. He never made it back. He died alone in the desert by the hands of Pokémon and now my best friend has followed his footsteps. I knew that I had to stop Sam before he suffered the same fate as my brother. Maybe he hasn't left yet and is at the wall opening now. Maybe I can go and stop him before he meets his fate too. With that in mind I dashed as fast as I could to the opening in the wall. This part of the fortification was not even noticed by the town's people. I was a small opening in the wall that collapsed during the last earthquake. Sam and I stumbled upon it when we were playing tag and it is the only safe way out of the town without being caught, making it an ideal place to leave. There is a problem with leaving. If your caught then you are sent to jail for attempted suicide. It might not be suicide, but the mayor thinks that it's pretty close so it should not be tolerated. I finally got the hole that we stumbled upon days ago to find no trace of Sam. However, the sand on the ground told me all. A footprint that would fit the size of Sam's shoe was engraved into the sand by the opening. I realized that he actually did try to run away and that I was too late. I felt sorrow rush through me. Why didn't he tell me? Why was I so late? How could I let him do this? But all of these thoughts stopped when I saw it.

I was looking directly at a Pokémon. It was blue with a red belly and had the shape of a small, walking shark. It was waddling through the wall, snapping its jaw happily open and closed. I was petrified in fear at this monster. I started to walk backwards as it came closer and I got my legs to move and turned and ran. Unfortunately for me though, I tripped over a root and was stuck in the sand as it came closer and closer. I didn't know what to do and my life started flashing before my eyes. I had nothing to defend myself and nothing to stop it. I started to reach for anything that could help defend me from this monster. Then I felt my pocket. I had the stone that Sam had. Maybe if I threw it hard enough, it would be scared and leave. I took out the red and white ball and without a second thought chucked it at the Pokémon. I then began to piss my pants as the ball opened and sucked the monster into itself, making it disappear instantly. I was clueless to what was happening but saw the ball start to roll. Back and Forth. Back and Forth. When I thought it would never end, it clicked and stopped.

I jerked my leg out of the root and walked over to the ball. I picked it up and examined to find that it hadn't changed at all. It was the same size and shape as it used to be. It was the greatest weapon of all time. It completely destroys Pokémon, making them disappear right before your eye. I grabbed the ball and admired the brilliance that must have come from the inventor of it. But why did Sam have it? I shrugged off the idea and felt safer for Sam, who now had a defense against the monsters. I took the ball and wondered if there was a way to reverse the effects. I wasn't afraid now because I could just suck it back up if it did come back out. I tossed it to the ground to find that a bright light emerged and the monster was back. I took the ball and was about to throw it when I saw the look on its face. It didn't look evil, it looked confused. Then it turned and watched me. Its face light up and it waddled closer towards me. I was scared but didn't move. I had the ball at the ready in case it tried anything funny and waited to see what it would do. It waddled closer to me and right when it got to my leg, instead of biting it, it hugged it. The little guy then looked up at me and smiled, well as close as a Pokémon can smile. And that's when I knew I was wrong. That everyone was wrong. Pokémon weren't monsters, they were friendly. That's why Sam left. No, that's why my brother left! I had to tell people. No, they wouldn't listen they would run. I thought about what to do. For about a half an hour I sat and pondered what to do. My Pokémon got tired and was lying in my lap. I knew what I had to do and I decided. I was going to tell everyone the truth. But right when I was going to do that, a voice stopped me.

"What are you doing Mark?" said the voice. I knew who it was and I felt a giant sense of dread wash over me. It wasn't my mom. It wasn't my dad. It was worse: the mayor. "Why do you have that…Monster with you? It's dangerous."

"No, you have it all wrong. Pokémon aren't evil creatures, they are nice and friendly. Look at this guy (I held up my shark like Pokémon). He wouldn't hurt a fly. You have to see that."

"Oh Mark, you are so wrong. It would kill you now if it could. It's just not strong enough" He sighed, "Just let it go and go back home."

"No, you can't" I replied, "I'm not going anywhere. I know the truth now and you can't stop me from telling everyone."

"So naive" he laughed, "but so stubborn. However, I can't allow you to ruin my plans." His tone got more serious and he began to reach for his pocket. He drew out the same ball that I was holding myself and said "I now have to put you in your place. I have mastered the art of Pokémon and I will make sure that no one finds your body. You will die along with your brother in the desert. He threw his ball and out exploded and monster that I had never seen. It was a giant, humanoid like Pokémon and had two large ears and a giant tail. Its body was purple except its stomach and it seemed to have huge arms and leg muscles. Its horn on its head was long and sharp.

"Behold my Nidoking" said the mayor, "It is a powerful Pokémon and can make sure that you leave without a trace.

I was in shock. The nice and loving mayor, who told everyone that Pokémon were bad and dangerous, had one this whole time. And, he was threatening to kill me. I was so terrified that I couldn't say anything. I stood trembling at the feet of Nidoking, just waiting to die when my Pokémon stood up. It sensed my danger and stood up to face the mayors Pokémon. I was beside myself. My tiny Pokémon was going to try to take down his to help save me. I knew that it was a lost cause though. There was no way my Pokémon could be his. It was too powerful. But I underestimated my Pokémon. Before the mayor could even mutter a world, its eyes glowed red and it let out a cry. A giant sandstorm came rushing forwards and consumed the mayor's Pokémon in dust and sand. Nidoking let out a huge cry and covered his eyes. Then, my Pokémon head-butted his and Nidoking fell on top of the mayor. This was when I knew I had to act fast. I threw the ball at my Pokémon to return it, grabbed the ball and dashed outside of the town. I ran for as fast as I could for as far as I could to make sure that I got away from the mayor. Then I stopped and collapsed in the desert. I was tired and weak from all the events that had happened. I didn't know what to do next. I was alone in the desert, just me and my Pokémon. I walked for hours upon hours, not knowing where I was going. It slowly became a giant blur and I stumbled and collapsed unconscious. That's when my life began.


End file.
